Comment on “Toward a Cognitive Criminological Future”

Abstract

In Toward a Cognitive Criminological Future, the authors describe the criminology and criminal justice (CCJ) divide, discuss efforts to bridge this gap, and offer “cognitive criminology” as a solution. I highlight additional reservations about “evidence-based” and other back-end approaches to link criminology and criminal justice. I argue instead that gains can only be made by bucking current educational approaches in graduate programs that emphasize specialized “publication training” and discourage holistic reading of classic and contemporary scholarship and comprehensive knowledge attainment. I further suggest a re-evaluation of disciplinary priorities that reward quantity over quality and call instead for an emphasis on the breadth and significance of knowledge contributions. Finally, I suggest that “cognitive criminology”—rooted in business-as-usual positivism—is unlikely to promote the change necessary to address the CCJ divide but is simply going to result in half-baked attempts to measure agency and other cognitive variables to add to regression models.